A runaway teenager sleeping in a dumpster was nearly crushed when a garbage company emptied the container early Tuesday morning.

Stamford Police Sgt. Robert Shawinsky said the 16-year-old Connecticut boy was lucky the garbage truck driver heard his cries for help and stopped the compactor. The boy emerged from the hopper with some scrapes and bruises.

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“The employees from City Carting garbage company explained that after they picked up the dumpster and dumped it into the truck and began compacting it, they heard someone screaming from inside the truck’s hopper,” Shawinsky said.

Shawinsky said the boy told police he got into an argument with his mother on Monday night when she asked him to clean up the dishes. He left and jumped into the dumpster to sleep, Shawinsky said.

The mother said she waited up for him but she fell asleep. She said her son has never run away before.

City Carting’s Vice President of Operations Kevin Walton said his driver, Kevin Whitaker, and another employee got one of the scares of their lives.

“He was pretty shook up. It was a great save,” Walton said.

”It is a good eight-foot drop onto the metal floor of the hopper. They both heard the screams. The young fellow was able to climb up the blade and jump out of the hopper.”